Still Here
by yamishun
Summary: "Stop looking so worried, the awesome Prussia won't die like this." He tried to smile like he always did but he grimaced halfway. K  for language courtesy of Prussia.


**Warnings: **language (courtesy of Prussia of course) and hatred for Russia

**Disclaimer:** Hetalia is not mine or else Prussia would still be a country after WWII in the Hetalia universe. -evil grin-

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_White_—he could see nothing but the expanse of blinding paleness. It was_ cold_—well below the negative temperature. He didn't know how long he'd been lying on the snow in the middle of nowhere but he had an idea or two why he was there, alone and badly wounded. Whatever the reason was, it had everything to do with the deceptively twisted Russian whom he hated—_abhorred_.

"_Scheisse_!"

Droplets of frozen water fell on his face, melting upon contact with his warm skin. His wounds burned. The cool liquid didn't help but only made the pain worse. He tried to move—at least he should try to go as far as his legs carried him—but his muscles were all sore. Prussia cursed again, but gave in to the pain. He remained still, musing if this was the end for him and the country he represented. He drew in a sharp breath before his consciousness reluctantly gave way to sweet oblivion.

Prussia roused to an unpleasant awakening, feeling the recurring taps on his abdomen get stronger with each hit. His face scrunched up in distaste but forced his lids open nonetheless. He was greeted by a relatively small polar bear looking blankly at him. It looked quite familiar to him but he couldn't place a name on the face. "You seem familiar." He stated after a cough. The bear stopped hitting him and sat down. It didn't reply and instead, it looked towards the direction which he deduced as the west.

"Kuma—kichi?" A quiet airy voice called from a nearby area. It was, in fact, too soft that Prussia didn't hear him until he was a meter away and exclaimed, "P-Prussia!" Canada ran towards the wounded country lying on the snow. He knelt beside the older country and panicked at the sight of blood. "A-are you o-okay? D-don't worry, I'll call for help!" He was about to stand and run to the nearest country but Prussia caught his sleeve.

"So it really is you, Canada." The younger country's cheeks turned a slight pink. It flattered him that Prussia could still recognize him given his current condition. He nodded at the silver head and helped him onto Kumajiro's back. The wounded country winced, the pains in his body aching at the new position. He said nothing and fought over the urge to slip away to nothingness. Canada noticed the older country's inner struggles. He wanted to help but he didn't know where it was safe to touch the other. In the end, his hand found its way to his head, stroking the pale hair of the equally pale man. This seemed to distract Prussia, his red eyes focusing on the concerned look on Canada's face.

"Stop looking so worried, the awesome Prussia won't die like this." He tried to smile like he always did but he grimaced halfway. Kumajiro halted to a stop and looked at the blonde country. "Who?" it asked nonchalantly. Canada frowned at the bear. Prussia seemed to have caught on and chuckled, taking on a slightly bitter tone. "My country is gone isn't it?" his voice was surprisingly calm when he said it and the younger nation caught sight of a rare expression on the older one. Canada silently watched Prussia, taking note of the grim look in his red eyes and the way his mouth twitched to pull a threatening frown to a smile. It was a depressing scene and the blonde country felt a couple painful tugs on his heartstrings. He noticed that his hand had paused from stroking Prussia's hair. Resuming his earlier actions, he ran it up and down the silver hair in a soothing pace and offered words of comfort.

"Don't look so down. I'm still here."

Prussia chuckled, feeling compelled to tease him. "You're really cute, you know that?"

Canada blushed and was about to withdraw his hand from Prussia's head when the older country caught him by the sleeve again. "Keep doing that. It's soothing." The blonde reluctantly did so until the other fell into a deep sleep. Canada smiled weakly and bid the resting country a pleasant dream, his thoughts dancing on the possibilities of what happens to them when the country they represent dies.

Prussia opened his eyes to a relatively warm room with cream colored walls. At first he wondered where he was and why he was there but the pains in his body reminded him of what had happened. He sat up despite himself and scratched the back of his head. Not long after, Canada entered the room carrying a tray of his famous pancakes with the maple syrup they both love. "Oh good! You're awake now."

"How long I have been asleep?" Canada's face fell. He looked away and awkwardly approached the injured man.

"Are you hungry?" He was avoiding the topic and Prussia knew it. He wanted to further question Canada but decided against it. He smiled and held out his hand to take one of the plates on the tray from the younger country.

Canada felt relieved that Prussia didn't interrogate him further. He honestly didn't want to answer the question at the moment. A lot has happened during Prussia's slumber, first and foremost is the division of the country's territory. He eyed the silver head as he blissfully ate the syrupy treat. He closed his eyes for a moment and looked out the window. When he craned his head to watch Prussia again he was surprised to see that it was he who was being watched at the moment.

"W-What is it?" he nervously asked. Prussia remained unmoving and the seconds ticked. His red eyes bore onto Canada's purple ones.

"You're probably wondering why I'm still here." Canada's mouth twitched. He lightly wondered if he was that easy to read.

"Well~" Prussia waved the fork with a piece of pancake in the air nonchalantly, seemingly thinking about how he will go about the topic. "I'm not really sure myself but, I'm still here aren't I? So that's what matters, to me anyway." Canada meekly nodded at the explanation, still unsatisfied but accepted that no one could possibly give a definite answer. They remained still for a while, Canada idly running his thumb on the side of the plate, staring at the blotches of maple syrup on the white porcelain. Prussia stretched his left arm along the cushion's backrest, right leg propped up and head resting on the knuckles of his other hand. The position he was in was painful but he found it awkward to not sit like he used to. He resumed watching the fidgety blonde who now avoided eye contact with him. The polar bear entered the room and tugged on Canada's pants.

"Umm, so you're probably very tired. I'll, uh, go and leave you to rest for a bit. C'mon Kuma-jollie, let's get you something to eat." Canada picked up the plate on Prussia's lap, placed it on top of his and exited the room. The white bear followed, asking the question, "Who?" at his master. He heard the shy country say a soft, "It's Canada." from the hall. Prussia chuckled before he lay down on the couch to recuperate. "_Hurensohn Russische Föderation_." He muttered before covering his eyes with an arm and forcing himself to sleep. With a sigh, Canada made his way to the kitchen down the hall, Prussia's words a dead weight on his mind.

For several days that turned to weeks, months until a whole year passed, Canada asked why Prussia didn't let anyone else know that he still existed. The ex-country would always pause, a thoughtful look on his face, before he would say that it doesn't matter. Canada felt guilty for Germany, Italy Feliciano, and all others whom he thought were close to Prussia for keeping an important secret from them. He only stopped the almost routine question when the other had slyly gotten the reason from him. Prussia patted him on the head, stroking his hair much like how he had done to the other a year before, and told him to not feel guilty and to forget about it.

"They'll eventually forget about me. Of course with the exception of Germany, but everyone else will. I don't mind because I'm awesome like that. Plus, I'm perfectly fine leeching off you. And as long as you don't mind, I'll stay here and be the only one awesome enough to always remember your name _and_ not mistake you for your _depp_ of a brother."

_xx hanging end xx_

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**Long a/n:**

_Scheisse!_ – shit

_Hurensohn _– sonuvabitch

_Russische Föderation_ – Russian Federation (I used this because it was how the country was called in the country list in German that I found)

_Depp_ - idiot

I did some referencing on some Japanese sayings like catching someone by the sleeve. In Japan, it's a metaphor of catching one's heart because they used to believe that the (metaphorical heart) is hidden in the sleeve. :D

_xxx_

Oh yes~ that ending is half-assed! I have NO idea how to end it actually because it was bordering cheesy already. So I figured, I'd stop before it gets worse. There are some things that are almost impossible to fix.

I'm not dreaming when I thought I saw _slight_ fluff in this, da? XD This was originally intended to be pure drama… or angst. Then while typing, I decided to add comfort. I don't know how the hell the _slight_ fluff came to be. I think Prussia was a bit OOC in some parts. I'm slightly pissed at myself for that but it has to be that or a harder time writing for poor me.

This fic was inspired (but not directly influenced, it just helped me get the supposed feel and the title) by the song "I'm still here" from Treasure Planet OST. I really love that song! And whenever I hear it, I'm compelled to write/draw Prussia x Canada stuff! Yesterday I was able to draw a really depressing sketch of Canada crying hard while Prussia (half-transparent) reached out his hand to pat him on the head. -depressed-

So anyway, **please R&R~!** Reviews make me happy and inspire me to write more!


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